User blog:Omegilla/I Lay a Bouquet onto this Grave
So at the end of all this madness with some time to reflect, I still stand by many things stated in "Final Thoughts" and I don't plan here to retread old ground. This is simple a quick easily-written-up-because-editing-the-main-page-is-confusing thing. This is for any lurkers that come across this old crypt. Too many websites that die out die out without any notice of its passing. It never says it died. It just shows that the last post ever made was 5 or 6 years ago. The site looks alive because it still stands and looks nice, but no ones actually touching it, the owner having long ago forgotten it even exists as I'm sure anyone whos ever lurked the internet can admit. No explanation for what happened. I hope to put it down what occured, though admittedly vaguely. Well, while this site is hardly at the forfront of my concern as of this writing I still feel some nostalgia and feel the need suddenly to put this down. And as its last standing arbiter over the crypt, one of the founding members, even, I feel if anyone should, I stand as most legitimate. Everyone else in the old group, as I'm sure, hold some mix of bitterness over it all, or a passive-aggressive indifference, or something of such a nature. Some I am sure are on to better and bigger things, some are on the same track they've always been on, and perhaps some have derailed to some extent. This website was hosted not at the beginning of the formation of this group, it should be noted. We spanned from some time around 2009 in Star Wars Battlefront 2, and while I can't say offhand when this wiki was formed, it was formed after our group was established and several RPGs under our belt to 2013 which is when the group pretty much officially fizzled out. We numbered Nine, once. Like the Nazgul in more ways then one. *Hero_Unit, the reluctant democratically elected leader. *Benndak *Metroidnut *Myself, General Omega (Now Omegilla) *DarthVader'sCat (Now Raccoon) *Dragonseye20 (Now Dragoneer *Fiodis, the mostly absent throughout and possibly dead one. *Fallen (Now Paradigm) *Paladin The group didn't form at this number nor did it die at this number. "Official" editions came slowly. I can't recall offhand it all, though it should be noted Paladin was the very last to join, and late into the group's official formation. But also one of its last members, too. The group began on Star Wars Battlefront 2 for PC. RPing as we knew it began there. We'd all taken part in various RPGs started by various people. Two notable hosts holding what were considered to be the better RPGs, which also had the larger and consistent followings. One was Dr.Tourny, a strange and relatively little-understood figure by the author of this blog who was apparently markedly younger then suspected by more recent information. The latter and equally strange and unknowable one was Hero_Unit. We know he lives in Florida. That is it. He began various small time RPGs which grew a consistent following amongst the members listed above, and eventually grew into a large and intricate-in-places Fanon universe to Star Wars. During this time there was general peace. Not without drama as is common on the internet, but amity still. The merge to Xfire from Battlefront 2 as being the platform for interaction and RP was something that threw things off. I myself rejoined the group late into much of the later happenings due to it. I will say perhaps that, back in Battlefront that as we did not have much capability to more openly and actively interact that our differences did not become as pronounced as they were on a more fluid platform like Xfire. Perhaps it was this change, and thus our differences becoming thusly that pronounced, that sealed the downfall. Who can say, though. With it, too, then, were the formations of factions. Some went one way, others another. Regardless, there were lines divided. And of course a very unequal distribution of said things. Many of the conflict's locations are not present on this wiki, as many took place on a forum we also kept that has now fallen. This is truly the very last of our ancient ritual sites that still stand to this very day that are of any note. With that, much can be only vaguely recalled and perhaps biasedly retold, but much malicious and unneeded hostility began to form. Those given admin powers abused them to push others around. Acts done purely out of spite. Attempts at tricking people into looking at porn about old men were made. Members weaved in and out. First one out was one known as Fallen. He was one of the original three members and his fluxing in and out of the group left him with little in the way of allies with plenty of enemies during the mindless and malicious conflict and his departure came not all that slowly. It shouild be noted members such as Dragonseye and Fiodis were often absent for long periods of time throughout these conflicts. Dragon himself rejoined the group during its waning days and was present at the true fall of the group. With time came wounds becoming scars and the vitriol found a pause in its constant bubbling and there was general peace with only minor skirmishes causing bruised egos for a time. However this was only the eye of the storm. While RPing had taken place all throughout the conflicts, causing for an odd field of combat as dire enemies seemed to still RP with one another for some illogical sake of keeping things going. And during the small time of peace, perhaps some of the more well-played RP took place such as Retribution, Triumphant Shadows and Legacy of Shadows for Star Wars, and other attempts at other RP in other universes such as Elder Scrolls, Halo and Mass Effect took place throughout the history of the group. Though by far the best reviewed by most members was that of Shadow of the Force, otherwise known as SOTF, to which this wiki was originally founded to contain information for. As was said, however, this was only the eye of the storm. By this point many RPers had left. Metroid, Benndak, Fiodis and Fallen were counted amongst the... fallen. And then there were five at the very end. Disagreements about RP and other matters within the real world lead to a renewed frothing of the vitriol within the group. The group, now merely limping, died with a wimper not with a bang. The author's "expulsion" from the group, having been previously its last punching bag, was left to observe the last of the group eat away at itself. This latest blog piece is an attempt, again, to simply give a brief, vague explanation and dissertation on the history and death of this group andi ts wiki. While there is plenty of information stating many of my own personal opinions about much of what transpired and anyone who cares to can look at atleast some of the history themselves, this is in essence a summary. Post Script: Anonymity is a strange thing. Its both a demon in and of itself, and makes demons of us. It can be a blinder to many things. Many people say that anonymity, accompanied by an audience makes idiocy of us all. Its true, yet it oversimplifys the matter. Its not always idiocy, and its not always the anonymity itself that does it. Though I would say the one ingredient always require is an audience. After all, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Anonymity reduces and amplies inversely many things. It makes the humans around you appear as faceless animals. Or it can, atleast. You're no longer speaking face to face. A significant amount of human conversation relies, of course, on physical movements. Almost more so then actual speech. With the internet, a vital thread is cut. This reduces our ability to articulate, and thusly amplifies the ability to take things in a completely different way then the message was meant to be relayed as. And with us talking to people that, at a subconscious level appear as no more then faceless spirits, our ability to try and be empathetic as we would with other actual people is reduced while our ability to be malicious is amplified, due to our lack of regard. Because so much is invisible to us, we can only conjecture at various intents and tones meant to be inflected. And as we all too often do, we assume the worst of each other in the dark void of communication. Uncertaincy, then can be seen is another large problem. In the end, though, some people are just born mean. Some then stay mean. Some get better. Some people are born nice but become mean. Some get better, some get worse. I feel that the exposure to the internet, to anonymity, to uncertainty in a time in our lives when social activity held such a strong power of impression over us no doubt was problematic. I am regarded as a very well mannered and polite man in my real life by family and friends, yet I am a boorish, blunt and rude man, not all together evil by these traits, nor all together good by them. I no doubt contributed something to the downfall. Something. But the ultimate downfall was on our own. We could not get past differences. Anonymity blinded us. Its said that when a man believes himself alone that his true self is revealed. The internet gives a window into what people will do when they think they are alone. Because people on the internet do feel alone. Ironic that the main tool to connect has left many people feeling alone and isolated. And ironic then it is the window into how humanity would act if they truly were without consequences, simply by themselves for all intents and purposes. The future is never certain, and perhaps the effort of writing this article shall come to nothing. But I do it for the sole purpose of leaving some form of bouqet to lay upon the grave of our group. Perhaps it may serve as a warning, an Aesop on the troubles that shall plague anyone that attempts what we did. Turning the other cheek, as Jesus taught, was done so with a purpose for matters like these. Senseless fighting over slights shall get no one anywhere. And one can forgive without having to forget, but forgetting slights shall make many things easier. There are absolutes in this world, and despite the ramblings of many idiots on the internet, being on the internet is not an excuse to do whatever you want. And its not just a game. They are not spirits, they are living breathing humans who are affected emotionally and spiritually by their fellow humans. As much as anyone might say they don't care when they're called an asshole, it does still effect them. There are absolutes in this world, regardless of what anyone thinks. People must learn to see past the internet's veil if there is ever to be a better version of whatever it was were. Those do not shall be doomed to fall into the pit from which there is no respawn. Category:Blog posts